RIALTO – A citizens’ group has been formed to combat alcohol and drug abuse among the city’s youth.

The Community Coalition of Rialto includes representatives from health service agencies and community and faith-based organizations, in addition to concerned residents.

“Our goal is to always be a community-based effort and work with the community and address issues that contribute to underage drinking,” said Lacey Wells, program manager for Mental Health Systems’ Central Valley Prevention Program.

The Colton-based prevention program is providing direction for the coalition, Wells said.

The coalition is looking into factors that contribute to alcohol and drug abuse among Rialto’s young people.

Those could be neighborhoods where parties are more common, and bars and liquor stores known to serve alcohol to minors, Wells said.

Josh Ramirez, a 22-year-old youth leader with Templo De Alabanza, said it is common to find those younger than 16 openly drinking and smoking marijuana outside of school campuses and in parks.

Often adults allow it to happen, he said.

“We saw that so many other adults were seeing this as well and they weren’t doing anything about it,” Ramirez said.

That kind of permissiveness is not found in the streets only, but also in the home, he said.

Ramirez said especially in Latino homes, there is a culture of alcohol abuse seen at social events like infant baptisms and “quinceaneras” where families celebrate the 15th birthday of a daughter.

These events often provide young people access to alcohol, he said.

Other factors that contribute to drug and alcohol abuse among young people are apathetic parents, or parents who are abusive toward their children, Ramirez said.

“There’s lots of broken families in Rialto,” he said.

Ramirez said the group has had one meeting, at Cathedral of Praise International Ministries, and is in the process of assessing how widespread the problem is in the city, before it begins to consider ways to fight the problem.

“Once we know the specifics, we will be able to deal with the key issues,” Ramirez said.

The coalition is scheduled to meet Tuesday from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Cathedral of Praise, 1521 S. Riverside Ave.

For more information about how to become involved in the Community Coalition of Rialto, contact Lacey Wells at 909-423-0312 or lwells@mhsinc.org

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